Rod Speed wrote:
Christopher Loffredo wrote
Rod Speed wrote
I'll generally agree to that. My wettest situations (with my
non-Gore-tex or non-laminate boots) are when I wait too long to put
my gaiters on...
Still, I think that membrane boots have their place
Dunno, I cant get past the fact that the military doesnt bother with
it.
There has to be a reason for that.
One needs to realise that the military have rather different procurement
requirements. If you're on a tight budget and need a boot which will do
its stuff in a hot, dry desert as well as a swamp and you need to buy
100,000 pairs then that makes for a rather different evaluation job than
a person getting boots for their particular situation, and maybe another
pair for others.
I'd agree with Christopher that they do have their place: just bought a
pair of lined shoes for not-quite 7 yo daughter, because she goes a lot
slower than Mum & Dad and if her feet get wet at this time of year
they'll probably (certainly, this particular year) get very cold too.
The sort of damp that we shrug off as immaterial can really start to
wear her down if she's in her trainers and lead to a bad experience
which means less interested in walking next time.
(being a bit of a Devil's advocate here) and I might eventually
pick up another pair for short & extremely wet situations.
I just dont bother with sodden situations myself.
I do them a lot, because I go orienteering. And pretty much hardly
anyone bothers with waterproof shoes because if you're going to get wet
feet anyway (and you are if you're in a big hurry through a marsh) then
good drainage makes more sense than a membrane.
You can't really expect to go out in Scotland and not get submerged from
time to time. If wet feet really bother you then you can do what the
military do, which is use waterproof socks: easily replaced (unlike a
boot liner), and easy to not wear them on a nice day when an extra
plastic bag around your foot is just asking for uncomfortable sweating.
Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
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net
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